Märican Biere Bought and Drunk...

Never saw them in PDX, but there were good German beers...
Was curious if any of the Kölsch considered the best made it to the US. I definitely think home brewing it well is hands down your best bet on so many fronts.

 

I agree 100%!!

Cheers!

 

15 ibus sounds too low, and the abv sounds too high for a typical kölsch

 

Up in North Carolina for start of my son's apring break. Picked up a six pack of Troegs Dreamweaver Weizen at a remote gas station near Hyco Lake. It's a passable version. Had a couple of Holy City Washout Wheat with me and much prefer those.

 

I quite enjoyed this kölsch from Albuquerque's own La Cumbre Brewing Co: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24659/116965/

I'm told it is available now.

 

I adore Dreamweaver. It's my favorite American hefeweizen, was there a date on the bottle?

 

Did not see any date. Any clues on where exactly to look?

 

Yep. Its very poorly printed around the neck of the bottle. Typically it's quite blurry and difficult to read.

 

Bottled on 2/16/15.

 

Certainly fresh enough. Have you had Kellerweis, and if so, what'd you think of that one?

 

Kellerweis is passable, too, IMO. And I like the Troegs just fine. I had it beside the Washout Wheat (which, FWIW, won a bronze at the GABF) and just found it a bit thin in the middle. I didn't want to fault it for that just based on the side-by-side, so I drank three in a sitting; but it still came across a bit thin-ish where some beers round out after multiple servings.

 

Gotcha. And, as is always the case, different palates, different preferences. I had an Ayinger Brauweiss on tap this weekend, it was lovely. Admittedly I haven't sampled Dreamweaver in quite some time, I'll definitely be consuming some Sunshine Pils from those guys though...soon enough.

 

I admit I set the bar high after having their Doppelbock and Sunshine Pils. Just thought that this one hasn't found its analogous balance yet. If there is slight batch-to-batxh variarion, maybe they hit that target sometimes. It is very close, just not 100% there yet IMO.

 

As you should, they're my favorite US brewery for German styles (haven't tried Olde Meck yet). Their Doppelbock, pils, and hefeweizen are my favorite US versions. I also love their Helles Bock, Cultivator. I think it's sort of useless to say it's my favorite Helles Bock since I have so few options, whether imported or US.

 

Have you tried Heater Allen? There pils is fantastic, and their doppelbock, for me, is a deadringer for Andechs doppel, the rest of their beers are fantastic as well. Granted I do not know if the even get out of Oregon, let alone mass distro.

 

According to www.seekabrew.com Heater Allen is distributed in Oregon and California.

Cheers!

 

Troegs also makes other very good German style beers as part of their Scratch series of beers. The ones that I have had (on tap) and enjoyed:

Scratch #174-2015: Wheat Bock

Scratch #170-2015: Pale Lager (Helles)

Scratch #159-2014: Kölsch

Scratch #157-2014: Fest Lager (Oktoberfest)

Scratch #156-2014: Dunkel Weisse

 

Yep, no Heater Allen for me unfortunately. For the breweries I have access to, Troegs has been the best for my tastes.

 

Troegs does indeed make quality German style beers.

Other Philly area breweries that also make quality German style beers (with some brands only available at the Brewpub) are Sly Fox and Victory.

The German style beers on tap today at the Victory Brewpub:



Victory Helles Lager

German-style Helles | 4.8%



Mad King’s Weiss

Hefeweizen | 6.2%



Festbier

Märzen / Oktoberfest | 5.6%



St. Victorious

Doppelbock | 7.7%



Braumeister Pils

Keller Pils | 4.7-5.4%



Scarlet Fire

Rauchbier | 5.7%



Hip Czech

Czech Pilsner | 4.4%



Zeltbier

Contemporary Oktoberfest | 5.8%



Shack Frost Ale

Weizenbock | 6.6%



Prima Pils

German Pilsner | 5.3%



Cheers!

 

Did you notice that G-B has two Heller Bocks in its portfolio these days? TJ's sells them both under their Josephsbräu label, but the newest is only available in the spring. I like them both, but found the spring seasonal to be more to my liking in its character -- nevertheless, it's nice to have the other available year-round.